


00QAD!Family - Tumblr drabbles

by ladyprydian



Category: James Bond (Movies), London Spy
Genre: Cats, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-26
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-05-23 06:45:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6108418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyprydian/pseuds/ladyprydian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Short, continuing one shots. No idea if this will continue or not.</p><p>Please do not redistribute my fanfic without my express permission. Thank you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A different sort of 00QAD drabble

**Author's Note:**

> Originally coming from [THIS IDEA](http://ladyprydian.tumblr.com/post/139812108338/so-a-thought) I posted to Tumblr. 
> 
> James and Q are adoptive parents to two boys. Danny Holt and Alex Turner. They are both around 4-5 yrs old. I see James as a stay at home Dad for the most part. 
> 
> Not betaed beyond a quick spell check. 
> 
> Archiving here so I don't completely lose them.

“I’m home,” Q called from the hallway as he set down his messenger bag and bent to take off his shoes. When he straightened up he saw Alex standing there.

“Hi,” Alex said softly. Q smiled and, after hanging his coat gave the boy a hug.

“Hello there, where’s Danny and Papa?” Q asked, taking Alex’s hand.

“Sitting room,” Alex said succinctly and leading the way down the hall. Alex dropped Q’s hand when they entered the sitting room and wandered back over to where his tablet, with the maths app Q had made for him, was on the sofa.

Danny was standing at the play kitchen pretending to cook. James, it appeared, was his customer. Neither had noticed Q’s arrival home.

“Vodka martini, shaken not stirred.” James said to Danny who was stirring a pretend something in the plastic pot.

Danny looked up at James, a flicker of incomprehension crossed his features before he frowned.

“No. Tea.” Danny said putting the wooden spoon aside, picking up and pouring from a plastic tea pot, and handed James the empty plastic cup.

Before he could stop himself, Q snorted with laughter.

“Daddy!” Danny said when he spotted Q. “I’m making dinner!”

“You sure are,” Q said going over to sit on the floor beside James.

“Hard to get a good drink in this place,” James muttered.

“I’ve heard the tea is good,” Q said with a smile.


	2. Tub time

Q gave a small smile and shook his head as he put yet another pair of Danny’s jeans into the washer to soak. They were, covered in mud and grass stains from the park. James had come back with Danny up on his shoulders because Danny was falling over from exhaustion.

Getting him inside the house and into that bath perked Danny up a bit as Q could hear him splashing around in the tub. James was clearly playing ‘battleships’ with him as his husband’s deeper baritone was making commands like “man the battlestations”, and “well done midshipman Danny.”

Q looked down as he felt pressure against his thigh. Alex had curled his arm around Q’s leg.

“Hello,” said Q.

“Hello,” Alex replied.

“Your brother came home a mess again,” Q said touching Alex on the shoulder.

“Danny’s always a mess,” Alex replied. “But he tries.” He then wandered out of the kitchen and back to his tablet. It was a good thing too because there was a sudden screech of mirth and a very wet, and very naked Danny came giggling into the kitchen. James, equipped with a towel, was hot on his heels.

“I’m going to get you,” James mock threatened. The towel held out the way a matador would distract a bull. “I’m going to get you!”

“Daddy!” Danny shrieked hiding behind Q’s legs, getting his trousers wet.

“Now Danny, Papa has to dry you off.” Q reasoned with a giggling Danny.

“Nnoooo,” Danny said between hiccuping giggles as James scooped him up with the towel and carried him in a fireman’s lift. Danny kicked with his feet as he laughed.

“Come on my little exhibitionist,” James said carrying Danny down the hall to the boy’s room. “Pants and pyjama time.”


	3. Mouse in the house

James paused after closing the refrigerator door. He thought he had a piece of Tunworth in there, but it seemed to be gone. 

He thought for a moment, he bought the cheese at Neal’s Yard Dairy and planned on enjoying it with Q one evening with some Stockan’s oatcakes, a glass of wine, and maybe some fruit, grapes or apple slices. As he gathered the rest of the dinner ingredients he inspected the fridge and cupboards. The wine, oatcakes and fruit were still there. But the cheese was missing. Well, it might be missing, it could have been pushed behind the milk and apple juice. He didn’t take a good look. Just a quick check as Q would be on his way home from work soon and he had to get dinner on. 

\---  
“Five years old, Alex. That means five bites.” James heard Q say as he started the washing up. 

“No. I’m full.” Alex complained. 

Dinner, chicken cutlets in a tomato sauce with steamed green beans and carrots, was pretty much over. Just Q and Alex were still at the table. Q trying to coax Alex into a few bites but Alex was protesting he was full and not feeling well. 

Alex had been saying that throughout dinner and he hadn’t touched his meal at all. Alex was a bit of a fussy eater. He was selective in what he would eat. Cottage pie, for example, was right out as meat touched vegetables and that was a no go. James and Q had been slowly introducing him to new tastes and food and Alex was doing well. They never had trouble with Danny who would shovel down a meal in record time. Actually, they spent more time telling Danny to slow down then to try something new. 

“Why are you full? Papa said you haven’t had anything since your snack this afternoon?” Q said, pressing the back of his hand to Alex’s forehead, checking to see if he was warm. 

“Umm,” Alex hummed quietly then pursed his lips.

“I wonder,” James said, a thought forming in his mind.“If we might have a full little mouse in the house.” 

“Why? Have you seen one?” Q asked, “are the cats not-”

“No, the cats are fine,” James said moving to the fridge and shuffling things around. “But I had a nice piece of Tunworth in here, and now it’s missing.”

“Oh,” Q said watching Alex while he blushed.

“You wouldn’t know anything about that would you Alex?” James asked as he straightened up. 

Tears formed in Alex’s eyes, as he mumbled something. James walked back to the dinner table and plucked Alex from his seat. Alex hid his face in James’ shoulder stifling a sob. 

“I think we found our mouse,” Q said getting up to rub Alex’s back. 

“Indeed we have,” said James. “But I don’t think the little mouse will do it again, will he?”

Alex shook his head, while still pressing into James’ shoulder. 

“Well I would say the lesson has been learned, but I think little mouse here should go to bed with his stomach ache. What do you think, Papa?” Q asked. 

“I agree. Bedtime for a sneaky, and full little mouse.” James replied. 

“You take him,” said Q, “and I’ll do the washing up.”

\---  
James sat on the bed after tucking Alex in. “So,” he started, “what did we learn today?” It was a question he and Q asked the boys every night. To help them remember and to reinforce lessons. 

“Not to eat all of Papa’s cheese.” Alex replied. 

“True. Very true.” James said with a laugh. “Are you going to do it again?” he asked. 

“No.” Alex succinctly replied. 

“Good. That’s a good boy Alex. I’ll tell you what,” James said leaning in close. “The next time Papa goes to the cheese market, you can come with him and pick out something to try. Does that sound good?”

Alex thought for a moment. “Yes please,” he said quietly. 

“Good, it’s a Papa - Alex date then.” James said before reaching over and turning out the light.


	4. Parent-Teacher night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I asked a-forger-and-a-pointman for a prompt and was given 'parent teacher interview'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note on Q's name. I took it from the different versions of Q in the various Bond novels, Geoffrey Boothroyd and Ann Reilly.
> 
> In Dr. No, the sixth novel by Ian Flemming, Bond's service armourer Major Boothroyd appears for the first time. Fleming named the character after Geoffrey Boothroyd, a firearms expert who lived in Glasgow, Scotland who had written to the novelist suggesting that Bond was not using the best firearms available.
> 
> Boothroyd is also referenced occasionally in the Bond novels of John Gardner, but the author preferred instead to focus on a new character, Ann Reilly, who is introduced in the first Gardner novel, Licence Renewed and promptly dubbed "Q'ute" by Bond.

“They aren’t even in year one yet.” Q said quietly as he and James walked down the school hallway to the classroom where Danny and Alex attended their reception year of schooling. 

“Hush, Miss Sarah is a perfectly nice and all we are really doing tonight is getting an idea of how the boys are doing.” James said as he motioned Q into the brightly coloured classroom. 

“Ah, Mr Bond and Mr Riley,” Miss Sarah said as the men entered the room. “It’s wonderful to see you again.” She offered her hand to shake. 

“James, please Sarah. We see each other often enough. There is no need for formality here” James said taking her hand. 

“Of course,” Miss Sarah said with a laugh. 

“Please call me Geoff,” said Q taking her hand. “I’m sorry I don’t get to meet you as often as James does.”

“Well, it’s not as if we talk for long,” Sarah said, “it’s usually just a few words in the schoolyard as he picks your boys up. Please, sit.” She said, indicating towards the three adult sized chairs that had clearly come from the staff room and were not normal fixtures in her classroom. 

“Now as you know this is more of a formality than anything,” she prefaced. “It gives me a chance to talk to parents without the children present and we can discuss how the children are doing.”

“Wonderful,” James said as Q gave a curt nod. 

“Alright then, I’ll start with Alex. As you know, he is a very smart little boy. Lovely and quiet, always listening and paying attention. I’ve never had to ask him to do something twice. He is well beyond the other children in academic standing. We’re working on making sure his letters are clear when he writes and I would like to see him socialize more with the other children and have that be by his own choice. Danny always pulls him into play time and while that’s good, it’s through Danny he is making friends.”

“Is there anything we should be doing to help with his socialization?” Q asked, concerned for his quiet, intelligent child. James took one of Q’s hand in his. He knew how sensitive Q was about Alex being socially awkward. 

“Normally, I’d say a sports group separate from Danny. But I don’t think Alex would take to that. He loves being outdoors but isn’t one to jump at the chance of a group game. Perhaps an art or dance class. Or even something like gymnastics or martial arts where students are in a group, but it is still a solo exercise.”

“We’ll take that into consideration,” James said as Q nodded. ‘A martial arts class would be good for Alex’, James thought. They would have to talk about it later as he noticed Q was sitting quite stiffly. James knew that Q was taking what Miss Sarah was saying about Alex to heart. 

“Now, as for Danny, well I’m sure you can see his artwork all over the classroom.” She indicated with a hand to the cork boards around the room, covered in children’s art. Both James and Q were able to pick out Danny’s work from the plethora of drawings they had at home and in Q’s case, his office at MI6. 

“He’s a very social boy, and talkative. He has some trouble focusing on tasks, and I would like you to consider getting him tested for dyslexia as I’ve noticed that he has a hard time recognizing letters, counting is also difficult and he has trouble with saying the days of the week. If you choose to have him tested, the school has programs to help him. This being said, Danny is always the first to pull a shy child into a group to play. He’s very kind and sweet, always giving hugs.” 

James couldn’t help but grin at that. Q on the other hand, was worried. “Is there something else we should be doing for him? To help him focus, or with the dyslexia?”

Sarah smiled, “Boys his age are generally running around and loud. They aren’t like girls who are more likely to have the ability to sit still and focus. For the most part, I think his energy will settle down as he grows older. As for the potential dyslexia, if we can start helping him now, then he will have coping strategies in the future.” 

She stopped and smiled again at Q. “James has told me how you are a computer programmer, there are apps and games out there that are good for kids with dyslexia. Word games that help them improve their letter recognition and reading comprehension. Something like that might help Danny.”

Q nodded as he thought about that, he developed a math game for Alex. There is no reason why he couldn’t do something similar for Danny to help him with his letters. 

“You’ve given us some good ideas,” James said. “Thank you Sarah, and for your time as well.” Both James and Sarah stood, clearly their allotted time with her had come to an end. 

“Yes, thank you,” Q said standing and offering his hand to Sarah to shake. 

“They are both wonderful boys, in their own ways. I am lucky to have them in my class.” Sarah said as she shook their hands.

“As we are lucky to have them,” James responded smiling at Q. 

“Indeed. We are indeed.” Q replied.


	5. Salt Mines

Q sighed as he flopped back into bed. It was close to 3 am and he and James had yet to cobble together much more than an hour or two of sleep.

“Danny’s fever is down, but Alex’s is now up.” Q mumbled to James who grunted in reply. “I gave him some more paracetamol. We need to check them in another hour.”

James mumbled something that Q didn't hear clearly. “Hmm?”

“I said,” James said more clearly as he rolled over. “What was the temperature?”

“Danny was down to 38.6 but Alex was up to 40,” Q said. 

“I’ll phone the doctor’s in the morning.” James said one hand pinching the bridge of his nose. “This is getting ridiculous, and we’ve tried everything.”

\---

“And how long have they both had fevers?” The clinic nurse asked. James stood at the desk giving the nurse the run down on the boys illnesses while Q sat with them in the waiting room. They hadn't bothered getting the boys dressed and just put on coats and shoes before leaving for the clinic that morning. 

“About a day or so,” James responded. “We've tried everything, cool compresses and baths, ice lollies, the only thing that lowers it a little bit is paracetamol, but once that wears off they both spike again.”

“Anything else? Cough? Runny nose? Vomiting?” the nurse asked. 

“Alex has a cough and a runny nose. Danny won’t eat anything. Or talk and he’s usually very chatty.” James replied. 

“Alright, Doctor Cardy will see you in a few minutes,” the nurse said finishing up her notes. 

James nodded and went to sit with Q and the boys. Both boys were cuddled close to Q. James pulled Danny into his lap so Q could seat Alex more comfortably on his own. “We’ll be seen in a few,” James said pre-empting Q’s question. 

Q just nodded, running a hand through Alex’s sweaty hair, pushing it away from his forehead. 

\---

“Well the good news is, neither boys have Strep.” Doctor Cardy said coming back into the room from running a quick throat culture. “But it looks like Alex has bronchitis, while Danny has tonsillitis.”

“Tonsillitis?” said James. “Does he need a surgery?”

“No,” Doctor Cardy said with a shake of her head. “We wait and see if it becomes acute, and reoccurs frequently before a tonsillectomy is performed. Not worth the surgical and recovery time for a one time occurrence.”

“What do we do then?” Q asked.

“It’s viral so there are no antibiotics, all you can do is keep the fevers down and have the boys rest. A humidifier will help both of them and they both need a lot of fluids. Warm broth, hot water with honey, or ice lollies. Lozenges might help Danny with the pain as well or even a hard candy for him to suck on. There are some throat sprays you can try. Paracetamol for the fevers.”

“So the same as what we were doing then,” James said with a sigh. 

“Unfortunately yes, there is not much we can do for viral infections but rest and fluids. It will clear up on it’s own in 2 weeks or so.” Doctor Cardy smiled in sympathy. “If any other symptoms start bring either or both boys back in so I can check again. Do you have any other questions?”

“No,” James said as Q just shook his head. He had Danny back in his arms again and the boy was leaning heavy against his bad shoulder. He shifted Danny into a more comfortable position. Danny made a small noise of protest before tucking his face against James’ neck. Alex was asleep in Q’s arms.

“Back into the salt mines then,” Q said looking at James. 

“Once more into the breech,” James replied.


	6. Origins and introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Origins and introductions

When James brought up adoption, Q had been hesitant. He didn’t want to give up his job as Quartermaster and he wasn’t sure if they could work out a proper plan for childcare, schooling, and activities if he was needed at work and James was off to God knows where. Let alone the time needed for a newborn. So he bit his lip and asked for time to think about it. 

Then James had his accident.

It was stupid really. Of all the things to take down a Double-Oh, neither of them thought it would be an icy patch on the streets of London, just outside their home, one January morning, while coming in from picking up a newspaper. Of all the mundane things, but sometimes, that’s just how life works. 

A torn ACL that required surgical intervention (failed) and ended up with a complete knee replacement (worked, but not after a battle with some post-operative infection) and significantly longer in rehabilitative therapy that never quite got James’ range of motion back was the diagnosis and follow through. 

Then an all too brief meeting with M to ‘discuss his options’, had led to a retirement ceremony with James looking resplendent in his Royal Navy dress whites, clutching a titanium cane that Q promised to modify with something fun like a sword, and a blank look to James’s eyes. 

Q stood beside him the whole time. After the accident it was patently clear that there was no way James would be able to stay on active duty. Q had hoped that James would at least consider staying on in some sort of consultant capacity. James’s allegiance was to Queen and Country first. Q knew that when he married him. He knew he would always come second and if James ever did retire, he knew that he would be bored within a week. 

But like with the idea of adoption, Q should have also known that James Bond always had the ability to surprise. 

\--

Three months into James’ change of status (retired), they filed the required papers to be listed as adoptive parents. 

After an agonizing two years of waiting, having hopes risen and crushed multiple times, they were at the tail end of the process. 

Two boys, Danny Holt and Alexander Turner, foster brothers who the adoption agency were unwilling to separate. Both were four years old and each arrived with a small bag of personal items (and in Danny’s case a well loved Paddington Bear under his arm).

Whereas James and Q were armed with parenting books, enough adoption and vacation leave to last the next year, and a whole new set of reason to die prematurely of a heart attack. 

\--

The first thing Danny spied when they brought the boys home was the cats. 

“Kitty,” he said softly into the back of the head of Paddington Bear he clutched to his chest. Paddington’s hat was in one of Danny’s bags, having come off through years of cuddles and one of the toggles on his blue coat was loose. Danny rubbed his lips against the bear’s fur while he stared at the cats. 

“Shoes off first,” Q said bending down and helping Danny from his shoes, “then I’ll introduce you to Lucille and Mina.”

“Kitties?” Danny said. 

“Yes, two of them. Come on then.” Q said taking Danny’s hand and leading him forward to where Lucille and Mina were curled up on a chair. “Now we have to be gentle and let them sniff your fingers. It’s the cat way of saying hello.”

Danny cautiously extended one hand towards the cats who were now eyeing him.

“Lucille is the creme and orange one. Mina is the black and white.” Q said scratching Lucille under the chin. “They like gentle rubs behind the ears and under the chin. Don’t touch their feet or tummies. They don’t like that and may bite or scratch.”

Q watched as Danny carefully pat Mina on the head, while still holding Paddington close. His eyes were wide. “Alex, kitties.” He said as Alex inched his way closer to them. 

“Yes Alex, come meet the cats.” Q said making room for the other boy. 

Alex was just as careful as Danny, having heard Q’s instructions to let the cats sniff him first before petting. 

Q let the boys pet the cats for a few more minutes before saying, “How about we go see where James has put your things! You each have a bedroom and you’ll share a bathroom.” He ushered the boys away from the cats. They would need to be introduced slowly to each other, reminders to be gentle would have to be reinforced, but the signs of the two cats and the two boys getting along were promising.


	7. James's birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James's birthday

James wakes up slowly. This was a rare occurrence for him because after years in the Navy, and then more working for MI6 as a double oh, he was very intune to snapping awake at the slightest disturbance or at the crack of dawn. 

Having two small children in the house continued the trend of light sleeping, but retirement and bone weary exhaustion from being a stay-at-home Dad to two five year olds has eased him into what would be considered a more normal sleeping style and pattern. 

It was still odd though, that he would have the opportunity to wake up slowly. These days, if he wasn’t up, Danny would be in prying his eyes open with a “Papa, I’m hungry.” Sometimes he would be able to convince Danny to cuddle up for a lie in but normally that wouldn’t work and thus the day would start. 

But this morning there were no such fingers on his face and also no Q in his bed either. 

Stretching, he scratched his belly and let his thoughts wander on how he was graced with extra sleep. His mind supplied that it was Saturday and that Q wasn’t needed at Six today. He heard noise from the kitchen and there was the scent of coffee in the air. Ergo, Q had left the bedroom and had started on breakfast. 

It was then, with a ridiculously slow realization that he chastised himself for, today was his birthday. He was now on the wrong side of 40, making the march towards 50. That, plus the delayed realization, upset him a bit more. 

Not that he was upset that he was going to make it to 50, but that someday in the near future he would be 50. It was as demoralizing as it was exciting. 

James thought about getting up. He could hear Danny’s chatter, Q’s quieter response and the murmur of Alex’s voice. 

A short trilling was Mina’s advance warning that she was coming onto the bed. Noting that James was awake she settled against Q’s pillow and began to purr. James reached over and scratched her between the ears. 

Lucille didn’t announce her arrival, just jumped up on the foot of the bed and made her way to Mina before settling in for a wash. 

The warmth of the bed, the purring of the cats, and the comfort of knowing his family was safe sent him back into a light doze until the lyrics of ‘Happy Birthday’ woke him back up again. 

Q’s tenor blended with the soprano of the two boys. Alex a little off key and Danny saying ‘birfday’ instead of ‘birthday’. Rubbing his eyes as he sat up he saw that Q had full English breakfast on a tray with a mug of steaming coffee. Alex carried a parcel while Danny had a card in hand. 

The cats gave a glare as the two boys scrambled up onto the bed, but neither cat moved from their place. Danny tucked himself beside James’s shoulder. Alex kneeled on the bed. While Q arranged things on the bedside table to set the tray down. 

“My goodness, what’s all this for!” James exclaimed and the two boys beamed.

“Birthday, Papa!” Danny called snuggling under James’s arm. 

“Birthday?” James teased, “It’s not Danny’s birthday is it?”

“No Papa.” Danny said while Alex replied, “It’s your birthday.”

“Are you sure? Are you sure it’s not Daddy’s birthday? He’s getting pretty old you know.” James said with a grin. 

“Not as old as you,” Q said giving James a quick kiss. “Papa was around when dinosaurs walked the earth.”

“Hush you!” James replied as Danny waved the envelope at James. 

“Here Papa,” he said. 

“Alright, let me see.” James said as Q passed him his reading glasses. He made quick work of the envelope and pulled out the card. It was home made, with one of Danny’s drawings on the outside. Q had carefully written the birthday message inside the card and the boys had signed their names, Alex in chunky block letters and Danny in a sprawling mess with a backwards ‘n’, along with the cat’s. 

“‘To Papa,’” James read, “‘Happy Birthday, with lots of love from Daddy, Alex, Danny, Mina and Lucille.’ Danny did you draw this?” James asked as he flipped back to the front of the card. 

“Mmmhmm” Danny muttered into his side. 

“Here Papa,” Alex said handing over the carefully wrapped parcel that was wrapped in the special birthday wrapping paper. 

“I wonder what this is?” James asked as he carefully slit the tape on the wrapping paper. “Oh! A book! And the next in a series I wanted! How did you know!” 

“Daddy got it,” Alex said beaming with happiness as Danny wiggled about in glee. 

“Daddy’s so smart.” James said leaning over Danny a bit to give Q a kiss. 

“Alright you two,” Q said after the kiss ended. “Come back to the kitchen and get your breakfasts then we can join Papa here with his birthday breakfast in bed.”

The bed jostled again as both boys scrambled off and ran to the kitchen. 

“Is that my only birthday present?” James asked Q with a leer. 

Q gave a sharp laugh. “Well there is a cake I need to pick up, but that’s for after dinner tonight. But you’ll just have to wait and see if there are any more surprises this evening after the boys have gone to bed.” Q then left for the kitchen with an exaggerated wiggle of his bum. 

“Looking forward to it,” James called before settling back against the pillows. “Very much indeed.”

As good as this birthday already was, it was only looking better.


	8. Neighbours

Having two young children in an apartment meant a certain amount of noise. James and Q tried to keep the playful shouts of the boys to a minimum and made time during the day for a visit to the park so the boys could burn off some of the extra energy. 

While at home during the day, James was always conscientious of their neighbours down the hall. He didn’t want the boys disturbing the elderly couple. Despite the sound proofing that was done during the building’s refurbishments, noise could sometimes filter through. 

 

“Rubbish!” Mr Lyon said out loud in the building’s foyer. Most mornings James ran into his neighbour downstairs as they each collected their morning papers. “Absolute twaddle.” 

“Pardon?” James asked. 

“The headlines, young man,” his green eyes gave James a piercing look through his thick multifocal spectacles. “Journalists these days, they aren’t even the hacks of my time.” He tapped his cane as if to emphasise his point. “Not worth my time, I don’t know why I bother.”

“My husband says the same to me, ‘Why James, are you paying for a newspaper subscription, wasting paper that only goes into the recycle bin, for news stories you only half read out of disgust?’ I tell him it’s for the cryptic crossword.” James pushed the button for the elevator and held the door for Mr. Lyon. 

“I was never very good at the cryptic. I always get stumped on at least few clues.” Mr Lyon replied.

“You need my husband. He’s excellent and always helps me finish.” James said with a grin. 

 

Later that evening there was a knock on the door. 

“‘Very sad, unfinished story’. 8 letters, fourth letter is a ‘G’.” Mr Lyon announced, his nose still buried in the folded newspaper. His wife following him through the open door with a roll of her eyes. 

“Hello,” she said in the tone of one who has long suffered the antics of their partner, to James as Mr. Lyon walked past his cane tapping as he went. “Freddie would like some help with the crossword. I brought some ginger biscuits.”

“Biscuits?” Danny’s hopeful little voice peeped from where he and Alex were peeking around the door.

“Oh hello, sweethearts. I’m Mrs Lyon but you can call me Bel. Who might you be?” She asked. 

“I’m Danny, this is Alex.” Danny said, the ‘th’ on ‘this’ sounding more like a ‘d’.

“Hello,” Alex offering his hand. “It is very nice to meet you.”

“Charmed,” Bel said taking Alex’s hand and then Danny’s. 

“TRAGICAL!” they heard Freddie shout from the living room. “Darling Bel, Geoff here says the word is Tragical.”

“That’s lovely dear,” Bel said.

“Alex, Danny, take Mrs Lyon into the living room. I’ll put on tea and you can each have a biscuit then bed.”

“Yes Papa,” both boys chirped as they each took one of Bel’s hands and lead her into the room.


	9. Cat AU of what is already an already AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> brookebond asked: 0QAD except Alex and Danny are Q’s cats.
> 
> Here is my take on that, archiving here because it fits (in a way).

Q was lounging on the sofa, his laptop resting on a lap tv tray so he could type while stroking Danny. At the moment, he didn’t know where Alex was. That cat liked to hide in strange places for days and the only reason you knew he was still alive was that the food would disappear from his cat dish. 

Danny was purring like James’s Austin Martin as he kneaded Q’s thigh. Q could feel that he’d soon need his claws trimmed as Danny occasionally pricked him.

“Here’s your tea, love.” James said coming into the room. He set the steaming cup down on the side table beside Q. Still within reaching distance but safe from cats. 

“Mmm thanks,” Q said, distracted by the scent of perfectly brewed Earl Grey but also by what he was working on. 

James sat beside Q and turned on the tv. He turned volume to low so to not distract Q. He flipped around a bit between stations before settling on some sort of American CIA/FIB procedural show. 

They both loved evenings like this. Quiet, calm, no one in the middle of goodness knows where, possible being shot at. No one in the depts of MI5 working security systems until some silly o’clock. They were both in ratty clothes. Q already in his pyjamas, James in sweats and a cotton t-shirt. 

It was then that Alex ghosted into the room. His sleek body hugging along the walls, slipping by or underneath furniture until he made a roundabout way to the sofa where they were sitting. He didn’t make a noise as he hopped up onto the back of the sofa and curled up. 

Danny did make a “mrrppp” of greeting but otherwise didn’t move. 

“That cat is weird,” James commented. 

“Your face is weird,” Q said, still mostly absorbed in what he was doing. 

James snorted a laugh into his cup of tea, then went back to his silly American CIA/FIB procedural show. Making a mental note to phone Felix, they needed to get together for drinks soon and complain about how silly these sorts of shows are.


End file.
